> > A friend has a Bondwell 286 portable computer (made in 1991 according to > the FCC ID). The display gave up the ghost. He has all of his formulas > and solutions to his laboratory experiments on the hard drive. I am > assuming that the drive is either a MFM or RLL type. The computer has a > video output connector on the rear, but it is identified as an RGB > output. The system will turn on but he cannot "see" anything. If a > monitor could be connected to it, he could then copy all of his data to > floppies and put it on his home computer until he gets a new laptop. > > But since it is a RGB output, I don't think it can drive the more common > standard monitor. > > I thought of taking the drive out, but before I crack the case, I want > to know if that is a good approach or a last ditch effort. > > Looks like Bondwell is not on the web (was a Hong Kong company) > > Any thoughts would be very much appreciated. > > -- > Jean Bourvic :>)) > ------------------------------ You could get a pile of empty, formatted, floppies and try a "blind" DOS BACKUP. If you use a bootable floppy with BACKUP.EXE and a second copy in the A: drive of another system, you can verify that everything else (other than the display) is working by using the DIR A:, DIR C: commands (the appropriate drive LED will come on.) Type BACKUP C:\*.* A:/S (practice on the working system first - I gather that you have been less than conscientious keeping backups. You can re-use any floppies filled this way.) Just keep feeding floppies and pressing <ENTER>. When the A: drive LED goes out, feed the next. Number them carefully. Then you can use RESTORE A: C:\*.*/S to load an empty system. ___________ If you want to rescue just a few files and store them on a friend's compatible system, MD YOURFILE to create a directory to contain all the files you want to rescue. You must be able to recognize them by their pathname or filename. Put a floppy in your old system and use XCOPY C:\*.* A:/S/M to copy everything on the old C: drive. (This copys only files that have been modified since your last backup - i.e. the archive bit is SET. It then UNSETS the archive bit - After this you won't be able to do an incremental BACKUP - only a full BACKUP.) Transfer the floppy to the friend's system and use XCOPY A:\*.* C:\YOURFILE\*.*/S/P, which will prompt (Y/N?) for each file. Type Y for those you want to save, N for the rest, DEL A:\*.* to clear the floppy, and repeat until done. Boyd Ramsay [log in to unmask] ----- PCBUILD mailing list - http://nospin.com Bob Wright:[log in to unmask] - Drew Dunn:[log in to unmask]